A new one for me

[Walker]

We recently moved from the San Joaquin Valley to the Eastern Panhandle of 'Wild and Wonderful'. In a recent drive in the '72 S3 during cold weather, the brakes didn't work and the peddle had no "push" to it - it traveled a short distance then just stopped. Never had this issue in Calif. so wondering if the brake pads froze to the drums, there's water in the brake fluid that froze, or some other issue that I am unaware of. Any help/suggestions would be welcome. I like driving my Landy in all conditions and this has really put me off.

Art

[NC_Mule]

So if you are not getting any travel at the pedal then you are not getting any movement in the brake MC which means you are not at the point of creating hydraulic pressure to move the shoes and stop the truck. How old is your MC. Sounds like the piston is binding inside the MC. I've parked my series outside in single digit temps and never had any brake problems. You will get it sorted out, these trucks are great in the cold.

If the brake shoes frozen to the drums you will have a obvious drag, did you try to move the truck did you feel a drag?

[I Leak Oil]

Frozen water perhaps but it would have to be quite a bit of water and get very cold. Sounds like classic symptoms of an internal failure of a flex line.

[Walker]

Thanks guys. As soon as possible I will flush and re-fill the brake fluid, check all of the shoes and cylinders, and if all else fails, replace the m/c which is about 5 years old now. Rover on!

Art

[SafeAirOne]

Frozen water perhaps but it would have to be quite a bit of water and get very cold. Sounds like classic symptoms of an internal failure of a flex line.


I concur. The pressure isn't releasing and the fluid is not returning to the master cylinder. I would suspect an obstruction in the lines, likely a nugget of former flex hose liner but I suppose if you had enough water in the lines it could do this.

[Walker]

This is a follow-up and "put to rest" post for this topic. After going through and bleeding the brakes, getting a little more pedal, the master cylinder flushed itself, dumping the fluid on the garage floor. As NC_Mule suggested, the m/c was bad. The new one from our hosts works well and has solved this problem. Thanks for the help.